Opinion
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, March 7, 1984
Out of the cradle,
into the schools
Here they go again, this time with a
proposal to send four-year-olds to pub
lic school.
A subcommittee of the state educa
tion reform committee, H. Ross Perot’s
pet project, wants to make school dis
tricts in Texas provide education for
all four-year-old children whose par
ents want them in school. While it’s op
tional for the children, it’s not optional
for the school districts.
The subcommittee also proposed
that all kindergarten classes last a full
day.
The optional program was proposed
after a motion for mandatory school
attendance for four-year olds was nar
rowly defeated.
Some people have said providing
such a program wouldn’t cause any
problems. Others point out the im
mense expense involved. But many
school administrators across the state
are probably turning blue by now.
Providing an optional program for
four-year-olds will cause problems.
More money for teachers, facilities and
supplies will be needed. Requiring full-
day attendance for kindergartners will
cause similar problems, as well as possi
bly souring their future views of
school. College students have short at
tention spans; just think what a five-
year-old’s must be.
Education reform is needed. No one
denies that. But somewhere practical
ity needs to step in and replace the
well-intentioned but often flaky ideas
floating around.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
Liberals have closed
minds on prayer issue
Celebrating Super Tuesday
hei (<i
Cbl. 1
rot f
tdei' u
cauit
I’m glad the Battalion Editorial
Board thinks “no one should be able to
force you to pray if you don’t want to.”
Obviously then, the Board agrees
with President Reagan’s Prayer Amend
ment, which states, in no uncertain
terms, that no one should be forced to
pray. The amendment clearly prohibits
anyone from composing prayers to be
said in public schools and from forcing
students to participate in prayer.
The Board also writes that all the Su
preme Court did was to allow individu
als the right not to pray. How could
such a knowledgable, open-minded
group of journalists be so uninformed?
What the Supreme Court did was to
allow school officials in Amarillo to pro
hibit students from coming together
privately and voluntarily for prayer and
Bible study before or after school hours.
What the Court did was to allow a high
school principal in Florida to cut all pic
tures and references of a student Bible
study club out of the students’ year
books before they were distributed.
Perhaps the Court hasn’t completely
banned God from the classroom, but
you can’t say they haven’t tried.
We Americans have allowed the fed
eral judiciary to become much too pow
erful. Our nation began as a constitu
tional republic. It now seems to be
turning into a judiciary monarchy gov
erned by unrelated judges.
One way to fight this legislation by lit
igation is to amend the Constitution.
The President’s Prayer Amendment
would serve to limit the court’s med
dling in religious affairs.
Letters
Corps deserves funds
Editor:
If the Corps of Cadets were to die
out, it would be the tragic death of the
greatest tradition Texas A&M has to of
fer.
The Corps is where this school began
and where the backbone of its spirit re-
It’s amazing how liberals give such
magnificent lip service to their support
of the First Amendment, while com
pletely ignoring the first clause: “Con
gress shall make no law respecting any
establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the exercise thereof.”
No one would want our government
to establish a national church, such as
the Church of England, but our right to
practice religion must be protected as
well.
Let’s face it, left-wing liberals don’t
care whether or not anyone has the
right to practice his religion.
What they would really like to see is
an atheistic, socialistic state established
reader’s
forum
in America. As Roger Baldwin, founder
of the A.C.L.U., put it: “We will bring
about a worker’s state in America
through the guise of civil liberties.”
I will admit that liberals are “open-
minded”; they’re just as open-minded to
their own point of view as conservatives
are to theirs. It’s readily apparent how
ever, that liberals are as closed-minded
to the conservative point of view, as con
servatives are to the liberal point of
view.
Woodrow W. Coppedge
Class of’85
I
mains today.
Doesn’t the Editorial Board have any
pride in our heritage? Apparently the
Board of Regents does.
The money used to encourage mem
bership and support the Corps goes to
ward a more than worthy cause. It will
not only maintain a century-old tradi
tion, but also help shape the Corps
members into outstanding men and
women.
Everyone knows that the Corps is
By ART BUCHWALD
My wife and I were watching the re
sults of the New Hampshire primary.
“Is the race all over?” she wanted to
know.
“Of course it isn’t over,” I told her. “It
won’t be over until Super Tuesday.”
“You mean the Democrats are going
to play a football game to decide who
their candidate is going to be?”
“No, Super Tuesday, on March 13, is
'the day nine states choose 650 delegates
for the Democratic convention. We’ll
know a lot more about who will oppose
Reagan then than we do now.”
“If Super Tuesday is that important,
why was everyone so excited about New
Hampshire?”
“Because New Hampshire was the
first state to hold a primary. New
Hampshire could give us a hint on what
will happen on Super Tuesday.”
“I thought Iowa did that.”
“Iowa was just political caucuses. New
Hampshire was decided by the people
going to the political polls. It’s a whale
of a difference.”
“Then why did the media make such
a big deal of Iowa?”
“Because it was the first test of how
the candidates would do. The big deal
in Iowa was not that Mondale won so
big, but that Gary Hart did better than
everyone expected, and John Clenn did
worse then he had hoped for. This ob
viously affected what the media would
do about the contest in New Hampshire.
Many of them who had ignored Hart
started concentrating on him and giving
him momentum — at the expense of
tough — so why shouldn’t the seniors
who make it through be rewarded for
their determination and success?
Other institutions within our Univer
sity have been using monetary rewards
for years to attract membership.
Football scholarships (what percent
age of the school’s population is the
football team?) and our million dollar
coach are just two examples. Why
should an institution as important and
From the Wtite House to the Outhouse.
Glenn and the others who bombed out
in Iowa. This is why Hart did so well iri
New Hampshire and Mondale did so
badly.”
“Mondale didn’t do that badly. He
came in second.”
“Yes, but he was supposed to come in
big first. After Iowa we thought Mon
dale had the thing all wrapped up. But
with Hart’s showing in New Hampshire,
we now have a new ball game and this
will put all the political pundits back in
business.”
“Why should the public believe any
thing you say after you were so wrong in
New Hampshire?”
“They have no choice if they want to
have an exciting Democratic primary.
The only sin we political pundits can
commit is to bore the American people.”
“I think the media is just hyping up
all these races so they have something to
write about and show on TV.”
“That’s not true. We’re giving the
Americans what they want. If Mondale
had it all sewed up after New Hamp
shire, no one would buy newspapers or
watch their TV sets on Super Tuesday.
How would you have felt if you knew six
months in advance that the Los Angeles
Raiders were going to win the Super
Bowl?”
“Why did everyone say in the fall that
the race was going to be between Glenn
and Mondale?”
“Because Glenn looked liken
candidate in the tradition of Eh>i
senhow'er. He was a hero who I
into space.”
“So what happened?”
“The other Democratic
candidates used his space achiwMr
against him. They said GlennH
know anything except how to Harris
capsule around the earth." Hche
r ai Te
“Do the New Hampshire iB 0 ^
mean that Glenn is out of it?” K w
“Glenn doesn’t think so. He Mien his
fact that Gary Hart won so bigiojninj
Mondale is a good omen for Gle|y p ot
cause of his strength in the Soutl: eei1
“Then what did New Hampshiiw'/p
“It proved that Iowa didniP
beans for Mondale — but it me#
erything for Hart.”
“What did New Hampshiren#
esse Jackson?”
“It gave him an opportunityt(|
jize for referring to New York(“
Hymietown,” in hopes of winn
ewish vote in Florida."
“What am I supposed to do fori
Tuesday?” she wanted to know.
“Go to the deli and buy lotsc
cuts, potato salad, popcorn and I
invite over all the guys in the
because nobody in America war
watch Super Tuesday alone.” g;
deserving as the Corps of Cadets be any
different?
Sherri Garrett
Class of ’87
Safety: Rent-a-cadet
Editor:
I saw on ABC Nightly News on March 1
that ladies jogging in Eugene, Oregon,
can pick up a Doberman for pi
for a monthly fee for animal care
Having observed the energy
rocity of certain animals on camj
suggest the Corps of Cadets reni
selves to ladies wishing ^ j°g L
price of a delicious meal at Du
Let’s start a new tradition!
Shanna O’f
Class
The Battalion
(ISPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
Editor Rebeca Zimmermann
Managing Editor John Wagner
City Editor Patrice Koranek
Assistant City Editors Kathleen Hart,
Stephanie Ross
News Editor Tracey Taylor
Assistant News Editors Susan Talbot,
Brigid Brockman, Michelle Powe, Kelley Smith
Editorial Page Editor Kathy Wiesepape
Sports Editor Donn Friedman
Assistant Sports Editor Bill Robinson
Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra
Assistant Entertainment Editor Angel Stokes
Photo Editor John Makely
Staff writers Ed Alanis, Robin Black,
Dainah Bullard, Bob Caster,
Bonnie Langford, Christine Mallon,
Sarah Oates, Tricia Parker, Lauri Reese,
Dave Scott, Travis Tingle, Karen Wallace
Photographers Bill Hughes,
Katherine Hurt, John Ryan, Dean Saito
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